Discharge lamp igniter with reduced noise output
First Claim
1. An igniter circuit, comprising:
- a transformer having primary and secondary coils, said secondary coil is adapted for coupling between a regulated, periodic power supply and a discharge lamp during use; and
a switch connected across the terminals of the secondary coil for shorting the secondary coil for a pre-determined time duration within a portion of an initial cycle of the periodic power supply, said pre-determined time duration occurring except for a time immediately after ionization of said discharge lamp.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A gas discharge lamp is provided having a ballast control element and suppressible igniter. The igniter is chosen to superimpose an ignition pulse onto the initial AC ballast cycle or cycles provided to the lamp. The secondary coil of the igniter transformer is initially shorted until sufficient voltage is applied to the igniter. This causes a switch arranged across the secondary coil to open. A voltage detector coupled to a primary winding of the igniter transformer senses the amount of voltage applied from the ballast. Once that amount has been detected, the secondary winding is no longer shorted and the igniter can initially ignite the lamp during a peak of the initial cycle or cycles from the ballast. After the lamp has been initially ionized/discharged, or after a pre-defined set of discharges, the switch remains closed for the duration of each and every ballast cycle. Thus, the igniter is suppressed from the ballast output, and the ballast alone provides lamp discharge.
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Citations
23 Claims
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1. An igniter circuit, comprising:
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a transformer having primary and secondary coils, said secondary coil is adapted for coupling between a regulated, periodic power supply and a discharge lamp during use; and a switch connected across the terminals of the secondary coil for shorting the secondary coil for a pre-determined time duration within a portion of an initial cycle of the periodic power supply, said pre-determined time duration occurring except for a time immediately after ionization of said discharge lamp. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method for reducing periodic noise emitted from an igniter of a discharge lamp, comprising:
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providing a voltage detector and a discharge lamp operably coupled to said igniter comprising primary and secondary transformer coils; applying a periodic power supply of cyclical voltage upon the voltage detector; opening a switch arranged across the secondary transformer coil at times when the cyclical voltage during an initial cycle of the cyclical voltage exceeds a pre-determined amount; maintaining the switch open for a time duration wherein said maintaining occurs for the time duration extending prior to ionization of the discharge lamp; and closing the switch after the discharge lamp ionizes. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13)
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14. An igniter circuit, comprising:
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a transformer having primary and secondary coils, the secondary coil is adapted for coupling between a regulated, periodic power supply and a discharge lamp during use; a switch connected across the terminals of the secondary coil for shorting the secondary coil except for during a pre-determined time duration within a portion of an initial cycle of the periodic power supply, the pre-determined time duration occurring from a time prior to the application of a high amplitude voltage onto the power supply to a time after the application of the high amplitude voltage onto the power supply. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. An igniter circuit, comprising:
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a transformer having primary and secondary coils, the secondary coil is adapted for coupling between a regulated, periodic power supply and a discharge lamp during use; a voltage regulator coupled to one terminal of the primary coil for regulating the application of a high amplitude voltage onto the regulated, periodic power supply for the discharge lamp; and a voltage detector coupled to another terminal of the primary coil for regulating a switch connected across the terminals of the secondary coil for shorting the secondary coil except for when the detected voltage is greater than a pre-defined amount. - View Dependent Claims (23)
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Specification